When the NSX first went on sale in the summer of 1990, it was the most expensive Japanese-brand car on the U.S. market. In spite of this, the mid-engine two-seater was still a remarkably good seller. Upon seeing the brisk pace of sales, dealers lapsed into expected price gouging. It was common to find the sports car, shipped from the factory with a $60,000 MSRP, going for $100,000 at Acura dealers.
This significant bump discouraged many from buying the coupe, including NSX enthusiast and collector Mark Johnson. Johnson has loved the car since its introduction but wasn't about to pay the inflated prices. Instead he found a '92 NSX in Salt Lake City, Utah, with only 5,000 miles advertised in the Los Angeles Times for "way too low a price."
The owner was having tax problems and needed to unload it quick. Within days Johnson was in SLC to retrieve the car and even earned himself a traffic violation on the drive back to San Diego (doing 90 in a 55 zone at 3 a.m.).
Johnson has since set up his online business-Dali Racing-to serve the NSX aftermarket (see sidebar). In addition to running D.R., Johnson also collects cars. This NSX is one of five that he owns, a works car built by Germany's Seikel Motorsports for Honda Racing's European GT efforts in '93 and '94. Piloted by Danish driver John Nielson, the coupe also raced in the 1993 24 Hours of Le Mans (a later, turbocharged version appears in "Best Motoring International, Vol. 4: VTEC Battles at 10,000 RPM.")
"If you bought this car in '92, took it to a race shop and told them you needed a racecar in one month, this is what you'd get back," Johnson says. He picked up the car in 2000 for $45,000 from Herr Josting, a German NSX fanatic who bought two of the original five Seikel cars. Josting died before the sale was completed and his wife decided to clear house. Johnson stepped in to save the cars.
"Since we knew they were actual factory cars that had history, we decided to buy them and this car is the more complete of the two."
Now referred to as the "Nielson" by the D.R. crew, the sports car is still trimmed for endurance road racing. It has several elements normally not found in a circuit car built for shorter track sessions or even a time attack. That's not to suggest the car is currently competitive, however. In fact, its weight is its biggest disadvantage.
"The series it ran in had a very high minimum weight and low maximum allowable horsepower, so they left a lot on the car. It still has a heater and power windows. The doors are essentially stock," says Johnson
Nor is the coupe street legal. It has no emissions controls, a modified ECU, and a rigid roll cage. The only way Johnson could import the vehicle to the United States was to certify to the DOT and EPA that he would never register the car for street use (he brought it in under special clauses for race vehicles).